Western Ragweed Growth and Competitiveness on Mixed And Tallgrass Prairie

Abstract

A current trend in natural resource sciences is to study and manage entire systems as a single unit, somewhat de-emphasizing autecology. However, an imponant step in good management of rangelands, like any business, is to know the cost of each element affecting that business. Most often, because forbs comprise a small percentage the total production and at the same time the greatest percentage of species, they are studied and managed as an inclusive group on rangelands. Yet, Weaver (1954) showed that variations in growing season, rooting depth and root morphology can drastically alter plant interactions. Conclusions based on average responses of a complex group of plants may be incomplete and misleading.